Sorry, try again. The Apollo program could never have completed its mission without guidance computers.
One of the most remarkable things about the space program is that when JFK announced that we were committing to "land a man on the moon and return him safely to the Earth", computers were far too bulky and unreliable for the job.
It was only the development of integrated circuit technology during the 60's that made the guidance computer small (and reliable!) enough to go to the moon possible.
If you think the Apollo program was cobbled together out of parts we already had in the 40's and 50's, you need to do some closer investigation.
The reasoning was that the average person couldn't read much faster than 300 baud.:)
Also note the implicit assumption that (nearly) everything coming across was worth reading. Unlike now, when usenet and web content make Sturgeon look like an optimist...
I don't know how many people actually used [Z80/CPM on the C128] (probably not many, given how well the C-128 did in the marketplace), but it was kind of neat at the time.
I had a C128 back in the day, and checked it out (partly out of curiosity; partly in search of an OS more cabable than Commodore Basic).
The problem was
Unlike Commodore BASIC (where everything is burned into ROM), CPM is a disk-based OS
The C1541 (the standard floppy drive for the C64/C128) was miserably slow, even after various speed-up tricks were employed.
There was also the chicken-vs-egg problem here: nobody primarily interested in running CPM was going to get a C128, and few (if any) C128 owners that didn't know CPM were going to bother to learn without good reason.
Disclaimer: if this is a troll, then you got me. Ha, ha.
Trinary computing sounds a little like taking something that was settled on in the first place and resettling again
Apparently, you can't be bothered to read the Third Base link referenced in the body of the story.
To summarize:
The cost of representing a particular number in a given base depends on a) how many digits there are in the number in that base, and b) how many digits there are in the base
Analysis of said formula gives a minimal value at e=2.718281828...
Dealing with numbers in irrational bases is problematic, but the same formula also suggests that using base 3 is more optimal than using base 2.
Representing programs as S-expressions, incidentally, has one terrible cost - it's hostile to comments. Because there's no place to hang the comments, LISP code tends to be uncommented within the text of the code.
I don't mean this as flamebait or a troll, but what are you talking about? All my LISP code is in text files. It's just as easy (or hard, depending on your habits) to comment LISP as it is to comment Java, C/C++, or any other language with text-based source code.
yeah I know, I'm in michigan, whats the difference
There's a lot less beach-front property in Kansas;-)
(Score: -1, Not funny; Moderator is a Huskers fan)
Re:How about OS's that should be brought back?
on
Niche Operating Systems
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Re: Amiga OS:
Where's the pre-emptive multitasking?
"It's in there";-)
Amiga: pre-emptive multitasking, no virtual memory or memory protection.
Mac: cooperative multitasking, no virtual memory or memory protection (prior to OS X, anyway)
What the Amiga did have that is noticably missing in current OSs is a simplicity of design (though to be fair, Amiga OS only had to run on a relatively small variety of hardware, and wasn't trying to fit into every niche in sight (embedded, desktop, server, wireless, etc).
The real strenght of the Amiga was that it was targeted to a fairly specific group of graphics artists, gamers, and hackers. It's really too bad the Amiga never had the corporate support it deserved -- with the right backing, it could have been great...
You don't have to be an engineer to figure out that the lower the fire, the more likely
the collapse due to the increasing weight on the affected area.
But if the fire is low enough (and cool enough) the firefighters can get to it and put it out before it causes catestrophic weakening of the support structure.
[Bridgebuilding]
has 2 requirements : (1) It must reach from one side to the other and (2) it must not fall down.
How about
It must be constructed on time and within budget (well, if the construction company wants to keep building bridges, anyway)
It must fit the needs of the community that will use it (a one lane bridge isn't any good for interstate traffic)
It must fit the (probably conflicting) aesthetic requirements of the community (no one wants to pay for an ugly bridge).
And "it must not fall down" is easier said than done:
It must be able to support a load of some specified amount
It has to be able to withstand the worst the environment can dish out (earthquakes if it's near a fault; hurricanes if it's on the Gulf Coast; ice, snow, and salt if it's in the north or on a mountain; etc, etc)
It has to last a reasonable amount of time (several decades, at the very least) with a minimum of upkeep
Now to be fair, engineers have had millenia of experience building bridges, and only decades of experience writing programs.
But the standard response to your standard analogy is that any non-trivial application is hugely more complex
than a bridge.
Even if this is true (and I would tend to agree that it is), I wouldn't want to use it as an excuse. Computers are everywhere. We've seen an explosion of personal computers in the last 10 years, and we're seeing a similar explosion in embedded devices.
We really need to get serious about producing quality software, or it won't be long before our technological advance will collapse under the weight of our buggy software...
What's needed is a good wireless encryption standard with good firmware decoding
Given the current corporate Zeitgeist (what's ours is ours, and what's yours is ours), I wouldn't be inclined to invest a lot of faith in any COTS hardware-based encryption scheme.
Not to say I wouldn't use it, but I wouldn't consider it secure without some open-source software encryption package running on top of it.
Linux *can* be free, if you're willing to [...] download
And if you're able to download. Those ISOs are big -- even with a broadband connection, it's a pretty hefty download. For those still putting along at <= 56K, it's just not possible.
OTOH, I'd bet most people (in the US, anyway) are within an hours drive of a Linux Users Group meeting, and could get someone to cut them a CDR for the cost of a blank.
On the gripping hand, if your like me, and think that the companies that put out the distros are performing a service to the community, you might consider the price of a shrink-wrapped distro money well spent.
-- I have no fin no wing no stinger no claw no camouflage I have no more to say...
Show me one that works on my mail server without overloading it.
Well, simple mail filters aren't going to overload your mail server any more than computing a checksum on each peice of email, and then querying some database to see if it matches the checksum for known spam.
Plus, mail filters have the benefit of not breaking in the face of a trivial change to the body (like a counter).
-- I have no fin no wing no stinger no claw no camouflage I have no more to say...
It would be nice to see Jeff Bridges and President Sheridan return
Another B5/Tron connection: Peter Jurasik (Londo Mollari) has a one-scene role (he plays "Crom", the program Jeff Bridges battles against early in the film).
-- I have no fin no wing no stinger no claw no camouflage I have no more to say...
Slashdot Mirror
One of the most remarkable things about the space program is that when JFK announced that we were committing to "land a man on the moon and return him safely to the Earth", computers were far too bulky and unreliable for the job.
It was only the development of integrated circuit technology during the 60's that made the guidance computer small (and reliable!) enough to go to the moon possible.
If you think the Apollo program was cobbled together out of parts we already had in the 40's and 50's, you need to do some closer investigation.
Rio Volt (a portable CD/CDR/MP3 player) already supports Windows Media format.
- Unlike Commodore BASIC (where everything is burned into ROM), CPM is a disk-based OS
- The C1541 (the standard floppy drive for the C64/C128) was miserably slow, even after various speed-up tricks were employed.
There was also the chicken-vs-egg problem here: nobody primarily interested in running CPM was going to get a C128, and few (if any) C128 owners that didn't know CPM were going to bother to learn without good reason.There's a lot less beach-front property in Kansas
(Score: -1, Not funny; Moderator is a Huskers fan)
- Amiga: pre-emptive multitasking, no virtual memory or memory protection.
- Mac: cooperative multitasking, no virtual memory or memory protection (prior to OS X, anyway)
What the Amiga did have that is noticably missing in current OSs is a simplicity of design (though to be fair, Amiga OS only had to run on a relatively small variety of hardware, and wasn't trying to fit into every niche in sight (embedded, desktop, server, wireless, etc).The real strenght of the Amiga was that it was targeted to a fairly specific group of graphics artists, gamers, and hackers. It's really too bad the Amiga never had the corporate support it deserved -- with the right backing, it could have been great...
Wow! That's quicker than fast!
Why, without 16-bit mode and segmented memory, I'd..., uh -- never mind.
- It must be constructed on time and within budget (well, if the construction company wants to keep building bridges, anyway)
- It must fit the needs of the community that will use it (a one lane bridge isn't any good for interstate traffic)
- It must fit the (probably conflicting) aesthetic requirements of the community (no one wants to pay for an ugly bridge).
And "it must not fall down" is easier said than done:- It must be able to support a load of some specified amount
- It has to be able to withstand the worst the environment can dish out (earthquakes if it's near a fault; hurricanes if it's on the Gulf Coast; ice, snow, and salt if it's in the north or on a mountain; etc, etc)
- It has to last a reasonable amount of time (several decades, at the very least) with a minimum of upkeep
Now to be fair, engineers have had millenia of experience building bridges, and only decades of experience writing programs. Even if this is true (and I would tend to agree that it is), I wouldn't want to use it as an excuse. Computers are everywhere. We've seen an explosion of personal computers in the last 10 years, and we're seeing a similar explosion in embedded devices.We really need to get serious about producing quality software, or it won't be long before our technological advance will collapse under the weight of our buggy software...
Thus, 6^6^6 = 6^(6^6) = 6^46,656 = 2.65e36305
Not to say I wouldn't use it, but I wouldn't consider it secure without some open-source software encryption package running on top of it.
Banjo kablooie!
(ducking)
Two downsides, though:
- It's on at the same time as Farscape (but that's why God invented VCRs & Tivo)
- So far, there's only 6 half-hour episodes
Mrs Bitters: Zim, the machine says the only job you're suited for is --Zim: Yes, yes -- LORD OF HUMANS!! I will rule you all with an iron fist!
OTOH, I'd bet most people (in the US, anyway) are within an hours drive of a Linux Users Group meeting, and could get someone to cut them a CDR for the cost of a blank.
On the gripping hand, if your like me, and think that the companies that put out the distros are performing a service to the community, you might consider the price of a shrink-wrapped distro money well spent.
--
I have no fin
no wing no stinger
no claw no camouflage
I have no more to say...
- Start|Settings|Control Panel
- Add/Remove Programs
- Select "KaZaA".
- Remove
Alternatively, if you're in a "take off and nuke them from orbit" kind of a mood.--
I have no fin
no wing no stinger
no claw no camouflage
I have no more to say...
Plus, mail filters have the benefit of not breaking in the face of a trivial change to the body (like a counter).
--
I have no fin
no wing no stinger
no claw no camouflage
I have no more to say...
--
I have no fin
no wing no stinger
no claw no camouflage
I have no more to say...
--
I have no fin
no wing no stinger
no claw no camouflage
I have no more to say...